


A Robin By Any Other Name

by predilection



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-11
Updated: 2013-10-11
Packaged: 2017-12-29 03:23:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steph may not be the Spoiler anymore, but she still knows how to fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Robin By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> This contains hints of Steph/Tim and is an AU in that Steph listened the first time Batman told her to hang up her cape.
> 
> I wrote this because I love Stephanie Brown. It's been sitting unread in a fic folder for three years, so I figured I should finally post it somewhere. 
> 
> This is unbetaed so any mistakes are my own.

Steph's at the planetarium. It's not a real planetarium as much as a large movie theatre with a slightly rounded screen, but it's the closest thing Gotham has had to one since the old planetarium came crashing down in the Earthquake. Steph leans back in her seat at the back of the theatre and looks up at the stars, which between the smog and the light pollution is a luxury she doesn't have in Gotham.

She's just starting to enjoy herself when out of nowhere the Ventriloquist and a bunch of his goons fly through the screen towards the audience. She has no idea why they're even there, but if there's one thing Steph knows, it's that Gotham is filled with more villains than possibly any other place on the planet. To make matters worse, the Ventriloquist is holding his dummy, Scarface, who lets lose a round of machine gun fire.

Everyone in the crowd either ducks down under the seats or starts running for the exits. There's the sound of screaming. The father sitting next to Steph grabs his daughter and holds her protectively against his chest as he makes for the exit. The projection of stars cuts out, but the house lights remain off. It's complete pandemonium, but thankfully the Ventriloquist and his goons seem more interested in what's going on behind the screen than they do in the crowd.

Steph drops to the ground and looks through the crakes between the plastic seats. Through the newly ripped and rather large hole in the screen, she sees Batman on an elevated stage trying to deal with about twenty goons in dark green ski-masks, a few of whom are carrying large wooden crates. Robin is by the exit, making sure the frightened patrons make it out safely. Steph isn't sure why, but she's not nearly as scared as she could be. Something in her gut tells her to stay put. 

Two row behind her, the door to the projection room opens as the projectionist makes a run for it. Steph crawls over and catches the door with her hand just before it closes. She slips inside the room and locks the door behind her. 

The room is smaller and narrower than her bedroom at home. Inside there's a chair and a counter with a computer running on it, the glow of the computer screen the only light in the room. By the wall is a large projector facing a small window that leads out into the theatre. 

Steph jumps onto the counter to peer out the window. More goons have appeared for Batman and Robin to deal with. The newer goons are not wearing ski-masks. They sport tailored suits, clearly working for someone other than the Ventriloquist.

Steph feels something deep inside her chest tighten and recognises the feeling instantly. The last time she felt this way was when she donned a costume to take down her own father's charity-robbing scheme. Although she's aware she's nowhere as good as Batman and Robin at the crime-fighting thing, Steph knows she's a good fighter. As she watches Robin take on a group of five goons, the desire to join in the fight bubbles up inside her.

She watches as Robin goes for a crate as three more guys come at him from different directions. The next thing Steph knows, Robin is being thrown in her direction. She hears the sound of the impact when Robin hits the wall just outside the projection room door at the same time she sees Batman turns his attention to the goons that just attacked his boy wonder.

A smoke grenade goes off near Batman. Smoke fills the theatre and Steph is on her feet before her brain catches up to what she's doing. She opens the door to the projection room a crack to make sure the coast is relatively clear before spotting Robin lying on the ground a few feet away. Dropping to her hands and knees, and propping the door open with her foot, she crawls over to him. 

With Robin's eyes concealed by his mask, she can tell he's conscious only by the way his mouth open and closes slightly, as if he is trying to say something. She thinks he probably has a concussion. When she examines his head for any bumps or wounds, she realizes that the back of his head is already bandaged from a recent injury. Although she knows she probably shouldn't move him, she hooks her arms under his underarms and drags him into the room, re-locking the door behind her.

Out of sight of the room's tiny window, she examines him on the tile floor. The white bandages across the back of his head, mostly hidden by his hair, tell her that he definitely hurt his head recently. She notices a discoloured bruise on his arm and lifts up his sleeve to find more bandages on his shoulder, which continue and disappear from sight under his tunic.

She curses. She wants to shake him firmly by the shoulders, but she doesn't want to hurt him. "Robin," she whispers loudly. "You've picked a lousy time for a nap. Wake up."

He groans and mumbles something about Batman, Scarface and drugs in a voice she has to strain her ears to hear.

Steph sighs and runs a hand along his forehead and down the side of his face. He doesn't have a fever. He is as cute as she remembers, but she doesn't have time to think too much about that now. She climbs back onto the counter and sneaks a look out the window.

There's still some smoke outside, but she easily makes out Batman's menacing form. Even more goons and two more crates have appeared. Batman seems to be holding his own, but she thinks the odds are more than a little unfair.

And then Steph spots two of the Ventriloquist's goons by the far side of the theatre. Supporting the weight of a crate between them, they make a break for a fire exit. Batman, despite being occupied, notices them and throws batarangs in their direction. The goons shift out of the way, but two of the batarangs hit the crate. They slice a small opening through the side of it and Steph can just make out the little bags of white iridescent powder that fall from the opening and onto the ground. 

Almost instantly, Steph feels her blood begin to boil. Not only did these goons ruin her night and knock out a perfectly cute Robin, they're also part of a drug trade that is making the situation worse in her already underprivileged neighbourhood. The two goons ignore the damage to the crate. Re-adjusting the weight of the crate between them, they slip out of sight out through the fire escape.

She feels furious that even if Batman takes down the majority of these guys, two goons will escape through the back door and this stuff will end up the street. 

She leans over Robin. "You need to be out there," she tells him, but he's unresponsive and she curses. She's no expert, but she knows he needs medical attention and that he needs it sooner rather than later.

Robin's cape is spread out on the floor under him. Steph fingers the material. It's soft, but it's no doubt reinforced with some sort of armor-like material. 

As she looks down at Robin and listens to the gunfire outside, she knows what she's going to do. She fiddles with Robin's collar until she finds the clasps to release the cape. She unhooks it from around his neck and then carefully slides it out from under him. She knows the idea she has is probably a terrible one, but she also knows that this is something she needs to do.

"Sorry," she tells Robin, genuinely apologetic as she swings his cape around her own shoulders. "I'm going to borrow this for a little while." She also takes two of the batarangs tucked into his belt and shoves them into her back pockets. 

For good luck, she plants a small kiss on Robin's forehead. She lets her lips linger against his skin for a couple of seconds, and then slides him over towards the counter. She gently pushes him underneath it until he's out of sight, even to someone standing in the center of the room.

On the counter she finds a black towel and wraps it around the bottom half of her face like a bandana. It smells like cleaning products, but she'll take what she can get.

She closes her eyes and gathers her resolve. Checking to make sure that no one is looking in her direction and that the door will lock automatically behind her, she goes back out into the theatre. Keeping low with Robin's dark cape wrapped around her, she takes off towards the fire escape and makes it through the doors out into an alley behind the theatre.

There's no one in sight, but she can hear voices around the corner. She knows she has to be resourceful so she looks around the alley. She grins when she notices a fire escape that extends around the corner and a pile of old florescent light bulbs by a dumpster. 

She grabs one of the light bulbs. With it tucked temporarily into her shirt, she pulls herself up onto the fire escape. She makes every effort to keep her footfalls light and quiet, as she rounds the corner and gets her first good look at the situation she's dealing with.

There are four goons in ski-masks, and she's thankful there are less of them than she expected. The two goons that are transporting the crate are approaching two goons by a van. All of them have guns. 

The goon standing closest to the driver's side door asks the goons with the crate, "What the hell are you doing back here with that?"

"The Batman ruined the drop," a goon with the crate explains quickly, scowling. "Scarface wants the goods out of here pronto."

While the goons by the van move to open its back doors, she considers the guys with the crate. Supporting the weight between them can't be that easy. Plus, she notes, it leaves them with only one arm to fight with. Steph quickly formulates a plan and knows she has to move fast.

Hoping her pitching arm is still what it used to be, she whips the lightbulb at one of the goons standing by the van. It hits him in the head and before he goes down, she throws one of her batarangs at the other, slicing his right wrist and knocking the gun out of his hand.

The two guys with the crate point their guns skyward in her general direction. They start shooting, but judging by the way they're missing her by a good three meters, she knows they don't have a lock on her position. Before they can get one, she runs along the fire escape towards them. Their aim improves, but they seem genuinely confused that she's running towards them.

They're still confused when she jumps off the fire escape and lands on the crate they're carrying. It's forced out of their hands and crashes onto the ground with a loud, resounding thud. It cracks along one side and more little bags filled with carefully measured amounts of iridescent powder fall onto the asphalt.

While the goons are stunned, Steph takes out their guns. She kicks one of the guys in the head and uses the blunt edge of her remaining batarang to knock the other out.

The goons by the van are still moving. The goon she hit with the first batarang is reaching for his gun, so Steph rushes towards him. Her heel connects with the side of his head just as the goon she threw the light bulb at is getting to his feet. Before light bulb guy can point his gun at her, she cups him around the back of his neck with her hand and brings his upper body down to meet her knee. She stabs him in the shoulder with her remaining batarang and as he crumbles, she kicks their guns away. One of them hits a dumpster with a clang.

She catches her breath as she surveys the alley. She takes in the sight of the broken crate and the four goons on the ground and feels accomplished for the first time in a long time. She missed the feeling of being active like this -- of knowing she's made a difference.

She checks to make sure all four guys aren't getting up anytime soon. She wishes she had a grappling line or some other rope on her to tie them up, but she figures the police will arrive any second to take care of them.

She's crouched over the guy she cut in the wrist making sure that he's not bleeding out when the hairs on the back of her neck stand up like she's being watched.

"Robin," Batman says behind her, and she can't help but jump in shock.

She frowns and raises her hands into the air above her head as she stands. She turns to face him and moves out of the shadows.

His eyes narrow at her. "Stephanie," he says, and she can tell he's surprised and disapproving even though he gives no outward sign of it. "Where's Robin?" he asks. 

She does her best not to flinch. His presence is enough to put the fear of god into criminals, and now his attention is focused on her. She meets his cold, hard gaze as evenly as she can. She has no regrets about what she's done and she wants him to know it.

"Projection room," she answers, manoeuvring around him to head back towards the fire exit. "Under the counter. He has a bad concussion."

She can feel Batman's presence behind her as she breaks into a run, but it's not long before he's ahead of her. By the time she negotiates her way around the bodies on the floor of the theatre and makes it to the projection room, Batman is already inside. She sees Batman slide Robin out from under the counter and pull him into his arms.

With Batman there, she knows Robin will be taken care of. For a brief moment, Batman seems gentle, even vulnerable, and Steph feels like she's seeing something she shouldn't. She looks away. 

She rips the towel from her face and tosses it onto the ground. Then she unhooks Robin's cape from around her neck. She leaves the cape hanging neatly on the doorknob. She wants to be long gone before the police arrive or Batman decides he wants to talk to her.

She's not interested in negotiating with him anymore. This incident has reminded her why she put on a cape in the first place. For the first time in a long time, she remembers what she was meant to do. She knows who she wants to become.

Steph darts out the fire exit and heads home. She has a costume to dig out from under her bed.


End file.
